In general, with respect to a sheet used for an image forming apparatus, paper dust may be generated on a surface of the sheet due to a frictional contact a feeder pat in a process of feeding and/or conveying the sheet. In addition, the paper dust may also be generated and attached on the surface of the sheet when manufacturing the sheet (for example, in the process of cutting the sheet to a definite size), and such a sheet may be set to the image forming apparatus. The paper dust attached onto the surface of the sheet may cause improper control of the image forming apparatus and may deteriorate printing quality on the sheet. Thus, it is preferable to remove the paper dust.
There has been proposed various image forming apparatuses and sheet feeding devices including a paper dust collecting roller and a paper dust removing member. For example, a known image forming apparatus includes a paper dust capturing unit that includes a paper dust collecting roller and a paper dust removing member. The paper dust capturing unit includes a paper dust collecting roller, a driving roller, a sponge member (a paper dust removing member) and an auger member. The paper dust of the sheet conveyed with the driving roller is collected by contacting the paper dust collecting roller with the sheet. Then, by contacting the sponge member with the paper dust collecting roller, the paper dust is removed from the paper collecting roller. The paper dust removed with the sponge member drops to a receiving surface of a guide member due to gravity and is conveyed with the auger member to be stored in a paper dust storage part.